Trenton man accused in dice game shooting death is identified by witness, prosecutor says

TRENTON - The Trenton man accused of shooting and killing another man during a dice game last month was identified as the gunman by an eyewitness, prosecutors said today during a bail review hearing.

The unnamed witness told investigators that he saw Kevin Boone, 20, shoot and kill David Lewis III with a black revolver on the evening of July 19, prosecutors said.

Boone appeared in court for the hearing via video from the Cumberland County Correctional Facility, where he is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Lew Korngut said Boone was being held in Cumberland County because a family member of Lewis is an inmate at the Mercer County jail and corrections officials wanted to keep them apart.

Boone is charged with first-degree murder and weapons charges stemming from the killing on the first block of East Paul Avenue.

When police responded to a call of shots fired at approximately 7:45 p.m., they found Lewis lying face down in Elba Alley near East Paul Avenue with gunshot wounds to the head and body. Lewis was pronounced dead at the scene.

Further investigation showed that several men were playing a dice game in the area when a fight broke out between Boone and Lewis, Korngut said.

“(Boone) admitted to having an ongoing dispute with the victim for two weeks,” Korngut said.

When Boone was questioned by police, he did not deny his involvement in the shooting but said it wasn't intentional, Korngut said. Boone also told police that Lewis had threatened to kill him on several occasions including on the night of the shooting.

Boone’s defense attorney Nicole Carlo said her client denies killing Lewis. Boone tried to give police information about the incident, but they refused to take the correct information, Carlo said.

“There were a number of individuals there that evening,” Carlo said. “I am questioning the strength of the state’s case.”